A New Hampshire Air National Guardsman received permission to participate in a promotional video for the social media platform TikTok, despite national security concerns United States officials have outlined in recent months.

Airman Jon Lynch first began using his TikTok, which has amassed more than 156,000 followers and 1.2 likes, to post short clips explaining various and little-known benefits offered to U.S. service members in early 2021. He's posted roughly 150 since then. But, in mid-April, he participated in a promotional video for the platform, which has caught the attention of two lawmakers.

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"My name is Jon Lynch, I'm a member of the national guard. I use my TikTok to benefit military members and their families," he said in the video. "If my platform was taken away, it'd be devastating because the people that I've been able to help and benefit their lives, it all goes away."

Lynch told the Washington Examiner that the video was reviewed by the New Hampshire National Guard's public affairs department, which signed off on it. He also noted that, "This video was filmed during non-drill status days; citizen Jon Lynch made the video," and added, "This video gives no political statements on either side and merely focuses on how I use the app to reach military members."

The New Hampshire National Guard's director of public affairs, Lieutenant Col. Greg Heilshorn, told the Washington Examiner that Lynch "pursued this off duty on his own time with his own equipment," adding, "He has worked with our public affairs office to ensure he is in accordance with military policy."

Last Friday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) wrote a letter dated last Friday to Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, where they express "concern" for the ad because "the video appears to serve as a de facto National Guard endorsement of TikTok's platform. This is extremely concerning given the known threats TikTok poses to Americans-especially so as TikTok is now banned on all U.S. Government devices."

China-owned ByteDance is TikTok's parent company, and it has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Due to concerns that the CCP may be able to access the data collected by the social media app, there has been a push, dating back to the previous administration, to ban the platform, though Congress has not done that yet.

There are current bans in place to prevent the usage of the app on government and military devices, however.

The lawmakers asked Hokanson four questions and gave him until May 26 to respond: Has the National Guard prohibited the use of TikTok in accordance with federal law; have they provided guidance to guardsmen and women about the use of the platform on personal devices; how does the national guard mitigate the risks of security violations due to data collection on servicemembers' personal devices; and how he believes the service can better communicate these benefits on other platforms.

“All Americans should delete TikTok off their personal devices, but especially servicemembers," Hawley told the Washington Examiner. "The locations, habits, and personal information of our men and women in uniform are of particular interest to the CCP, and we shouldn’t be willingly handing it over to them.”

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A spokeswoman for the National Guard Bureau told the Washington Examiner that they will "reply directly to the authors of the letter" and noted, "Personal use of the platform on personal equipment is up to the individual to use at his/her discretion."

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.